Date of Dread
by Higuchimon
Summary: Jun and Sora make a bet with Taichi and Yamato: one date, just to see who really likes who. [alternate timeline]


_**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the canon characters who appear in this fanfic and am not writing this for any form of profit.  
**Title:** Date of Dread  
**Timeline:** Digimon Adventure 02, between episodes four (**Iron Vegimon**) and eighteen **Run, Yolei, Run**)  
**Romance:** Taichi x Yamato, with some Jun x Sora and a small speck of Hikari x Mimi.  
**Notes:** This ignores the episode 50 epilogue and the Sora x Yamato portions of the latter parts of the season.  
**Summary:** Jun and Sora make a bet with Taichi and Yamato: one date, and see who likes who._

She was there again. He could see her just out of the corner of his eye, walking a few yards behind him. If he stopped and tried to wait for her to wait up, she turned away, as if she'd decided not to go in that direction any longer. When he started to walk again, she waited a bit, and then was after him again. It was starting to drive him out of his mind.

_This has been going on for a **month**._ Yagami Taichi was just about out of his mind. What in the _world_ was Sora up to? He was starting to wonder if she'd been taking stalking lessons from Motomiya Jun. He knew it was rather unkind of him to think that, but it was just getting on his nerves.

He paused by a shop window, taking a peek carefully in the pale reflection to see if she was going to do what he thought she was going to do. Yup, sure as ever, she was pausing and waiting for him. He knew she had to be waiting for him, as soon as he started to walk again, she was right there.

_I've tried to talk to her. I've **tried** to call her and see what's going on, but she wouldn't even talk to me._ Whatever was going on in her mind, he wanted to get it settled, but she wasn't co operating. _I hope she doesn't...**like** me..._ The thought that would have pleased him so much just a few short months ago now sent chills of fear and near-disgust down his spine. It wasn't anything against _her_ in particular, it was a general sense of revulsion at the thought of dating girls in general.

Yes, Yagami Taichi, buff captain of the soccer team, leader of the first generation of Chosen Children, had grown up gay. Well, you couldn't really say he'd _grown up_ that way, since up until a few months ago, he'd been, or at least thought he'd been, just as straight as any other guy walking down the street. But now...now it was not pretty curves and feminine whispers that filled his fantasies, but a long, lean, strong body, with the voice of a god.

_It wasn't enough I turned out gay._ He almost laughed to himself as he thought about it. _I had to fall in love with my best friend._ He was fairly sure that was a cliché somewhere in the Big Book of Love Clichés, but since he didn't have access to that book, he was going to have to wing it. _I wonder if Yamato's the same way._ The thought was unusual, but one he'd been entertaining off and on for about as long as he'd figured out that his heart was given already, which had been not all that long after he had come to the conclusion he was gay in the first place.

Well, at least he was going to _do_ something about it. Another of the Immensely Overused Love Clichés was that the one in love never said anything about the one they loved until it was far too late, and they could never be together. _I'll go along with **some** love clichés, but that's one I'm going to skip out on. I don't really want to spend the rest of my life wondering what would've happened if I'd ever gotten up the nerve to talk to Yamato: because I **have** the nerve to talk to him, so that's that!_

He glanced at the apartment house up ahead, and put some steel in his spine. He was the Chosen of Courage; he was going to have the guts to talk to the one he loved. What was the worst that Yamato could do to him, after all? It wasn't as if they were in the Digital World with access to their Digimon, so Yamato couldn't have Gabumon go to MetalGarurumon and do massive amounts of damage to him. _Then again, he could just punch my lights out. That would hurt._

Well, he certainly wasn't getting anything done without being here. His eyes flicked behind him again, and once again Sora was there, quietly watching. He couldn't get a clear enough look at her to see what kind of expression was on her face, and he knew she wasn't going to talk to him. _Okay, if she wants to follow me all the way to Yamato's apartment, she can explain it to **him**, not me._

He slipped into the apartment building and over to the elevators. A quick scan behind him showed Sora standing out there, but not making a move to go in. _Okay, I can handle that._ He got into the elevator and headed up, feeling a sense of relief at being out from prying eyes for a few moments. There was something kind of nice about an elevator...nice and secretive, a place apart from everything, and yet a part _of_ everything.

_I wonder if Yamato would mind doing some kissing in an elevator._ His eyes twinkled to himself as he thought about having the right, the privilege, the _pleasure_ of doing something like that. He wondered what Yamato's lips would taste like. _It's not like I have a lot of experience, though. If he **wants** to kiss me, I hope I don't screw it up._

There were certainly a lot of things to be worried over when someone was considering starting a relationship. If he'd known it could be this much trouble, he wondered if he would have ever thought about it in the first place. But then thinking about walking hand in hand with Yamato, feeling Yamato's heart joined with his own...that definitely made _anything_ worth it.

It was a little hard to figure out just when or how or _why_ he'd fallen for Yamato. A part of him whispered that it had always been there, the feelings had always been a part of him, but he just had been forced to wait until he was ready to acknowledge them. Another part of him said that it had been a slow buildup of various events over the course of the three years that they had known one another. They had shared a great deal during their first trip to the Digital World, and he couldn't forget any of it. The first battle...their first fight...the touch of Yamato's hand on his, the only thing between them being a pair of gloves. Feeling Yamato's arms around him when he had come to save him while he had been facing Piemon. The more he thought about it, the more he knew that it had only been friendship then, but it was the deepest, strongest, most true friendship that he'd ever had in his life. _Who ever knew that I'd find someone like **him** that summer. And I wasn't even all that sure I **wanted** to go to camp that year._

Overall, of course, he was glad that he'd went. Not only had he found Yamato, but they'd saved the world. _That's one heck of a camp activity._ He chuckled to himself as the elevator came to a halt on the right floor. _Well, here I am._

The Ishida apartment wasn't that far from the elevator, and he stood outside of it just a few seconds later. _I hope his dad's not home. I **like** Ishida-san, I just don't think right now is the best time for a parental overseeing thing._ Taichi stared at the door for a moment, then took a deep breath, and knocked firmly. _Here we go. Now or never. And all that other courageous stuff._

For a moment he thought that no one was home, and that his whole trip here, being stalked and all, was for nothing. Then the door opened the tiniest, and a familiar blue eye peeked out of the crack. "Oh, hi, Taichi!" Yamato grinned at him and opened the door all the way. "You should've called!"

"You weren't on the way out or anything, were you?" Taichi winced internally; that would be even more annoying than Yamato not having been there in the first place! If he didn't even have _time_ to make his confession...

Yamato shrugged and beckoned Taichi inside. "Not really. I was just kind of worried that you might be..." He hesitated, and Taichi frowned slightly.

"Sora hasn't been stalking you, too, has she?" The brunette wondered. Yamato looked at him oddly.

"No, not Sora. Jun. She's been after me _constantly_." He sighed for a moment. "For a while I thought she had given up on me. She didn't bother me or call me or have Daisuke send me messages or _anything_ for weeks." He considered. "I think it might even have been a whole month. But then...out of nowhere, she started to do it _again_. Worse than ever. I can't go anywhere without her showing up after me. She hasn't called or anything since then, but she's just always _there_."

Taichi frowned. This was starting to sound just a little too much like what Sora was doing with _him_ for it to be coincidence. "Yamato, Sora's been doing the same thing with me. She followed me all the way over here, and I don't think she was doing it just to give me company." Quickly he outlined just how it was that their mutual friend had been acting, and the blonde looked just as worried as he was by the time the story was done.

"Something is _definitely_ going on, and it's got to do with both of them." Yamato headed over to the window of the apartment that looked out on the street and carefully peered through the curtains, doing his best not to disturb them. "Taichi."

The Child of Courage joined his friend, stopping just before the window, where he could see what was going on. "What is it?"

"Look." Yamato motioned carefully, and Taichi leaned a little forward. His mind became almost immediately distracted by the clean soapy scent of Yamato so close to him, and his hormones began to do a little dance.

_This is so not what I need to be doing right now._ Taichi berated himself even while he was breathing in the sweet clean odor. _I bet he hasn't been out of the shower that long. He smells so nice...and he's talking to me. I'm gonna be in trouble, cause I'm not listening just yet._

"You see, Taichi?" If Yamato had noticed, then he wasn't mentioning it. "Look!"

Taichi managed to drag his attention away just long enough to take a look out the window, and his eyes widened. _Both_ Jun and Sora were out there, side by side, staring intently up at the apartment. It couldn't be coincidence, he could see them talking to each other and motioning towards them. "Did you know they knew each other?"

"Nope. Didn't have a clue."

Taichi glanced out the window again, trying to figure out what their problem was. What _could_ they be up to? He blinked as they seemed to jerk back and then hustled behind a concealing tree as fast as they could. _Wonder if they saw me?_ That was very weird behavior, even for a couple of girls.

"I've seen some _weird_ girls in my time, but these two are definitely racking up the wacky points." Yamato said, shaking his head firmly. "What do you think's on their mind?"

"The usual girl stuff." Taichi declared from the depths of a fourteen year old gay male's perspective on females. "Clothes, shoes, makeup, guys. What else do girls think about normally?"

Yamato shrugged. "I haven't the foggiest idea. Hey, you want to go grab a burger or something? My treat. I'm not really in the mood to cook."

Internally regretting the loss of Yamato's amazing cooking talents and the ability to later brag that the blonde had cooked something for _him_ and him alone, Taichi just shrugged. "Fine with me, as long as you're shelling out the yen for it. I'm about as broke as I can get." He grinned. "Just how _do_ you get all that money anyway? I didn't think you still got an allowance."

"I don't." Yamato rolled his eyes. "I do this thing after school and on weekends, when I'm not with the band. It's called _work_. It's really useful when it comes to being able to do things like buy junk food and things. You didn't think I kept after my dad to get me spare strings and things constantly, not with how much _he_ works, did you?"

Taichi fought back a blush and shook his head. "Of course not. Come on, let's get moving." Almost as soon as he said that, his stomach rumbled loudly, and Yamato laughed.

"I see why you came over, you wanted to mooch some food off of me!" The blonde teased his friend. "I dunno if I should take you out now, you might break my wallet!"

Taichi ignored the dance his hormones did when Yamato uttered the phrase _take you out_, telling himself repeatedly that the Child of Friendship did _not_ mean it the way he thought that he did. _Okay, I came over to tell him how I feel, right now's the best time. We're together, no one else is here, the least he's gonna do is punch me out, and I doubt he'd even do that, I haven't done anything stupid lately. That I know about._

"You ready to go?" Yamato grabbed his wallet and shoved it into his pocket. "If we go out the back way we can probably avoid the girls."

"I never thought we'd be trying to avoid at least one person that's our friend." Taichi shrugged as they headed for the door. "What do you really think is on their mind?"

Yamato shrugged. "I have no clue. I wish I _did_, they're freaking me out." He seemed to be glancing over at Taichi with a bit more interest than he usually did, and the brunette felt himself quivering inside. "You okay, Taichi? You look a little nervous."

"Hey, I'm fine." Taichi grinned at him. _I'll tell him over dinner. He always gets all relaxed and happy when he's eaten. Right now, if he's still hungry, he could react unpredictably. Yeah, after dinner, that'll be right._ "Let's get that food."

The two of them headed out the door once Yamato had written a note for his dad in case Hiroaki came back sooner than planned. "Won't he want something to eat, though?" Taichi wondered as they headed down the elevator.

"Nah, he already said he was going to grab something before he got back home." Yamato said lazily. "He knows I was up late last night, so he made sure he wouldn't put anything extra on me, so I could get caught up on my sleep."

Taichi looked at him curiously. "You, up late? I thought you always went to bed by eleven, to keep your awesome good looks from fading." _Did I say that? Oh, he is **so** gonna want to know what I mean. Can I tell him? I know I was thinking about it, but I just now decided to do it later. Why do I always say things without thinking?_

"Yeah, I was up late." If Yamato had noticed just what Taichi had said, he didn't mention it. "I had some things on my mind. It's nothing...well..." He looked over at Taichi a bit nervously, and Taichi _knew_ he'd seen the nervousness this time. "It's nothing. I'll tell you about it later, Taichi. After we've eaten."

The brunette blinked a little; was it possible that _Yamato_ was thinking the same things about _him_, that he was thinking about the blonde? _That would be so nice._ He let himself daydream for a moment as they headed for the back exit, then stopped as Yamato opened the door. "Hope you've got enough," he teased, "cause I'm bringing along an extra-strength--"

His voice trailed off as the door opened and he saw two figures standing out there side by side. His heart sank as he recognized them: Sora and Jun. Both of them stood there looking at the two of them, looking almost unnaturally calm. A chill hand clamped onto his spine and he stifled a gulp. _They're just girls. They're just my friends. I don't need to be afraid of them. They won't hurt me._

"Hey, girls." He stepped forward, noting the fear in Yamato's eyes at the sight of Jun. He hoped he wasn't feeling the same way about Sora. Maybe if he made a really good impression on Yamato getting them off their respective backs, that would incline the blonde towards him...at the very least it would _get_ them off their backs, and that would mean he could continue trying to talk to Yamato about how he felt.

"Hello, Taichi. Yamato." Sora nodded politely at them both.

"Yamato. Taichi." Jun looked Yamato right in the sapphire eyes, and the blonde seemed to fade back somewhat. "You guys wouldn't be going somewhere would you?"

Taichi frowned. "Yeah, we're going out to eat." He decided this was as good a time as any to ask, after all, they were the ones who had come here to talk to them, obviously. _They_ were the ones who had been stalking them. It was time for answers. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no real reason." Sora shrugged lightly, then pinned Taichi with her own gaze. "We just want to ask you something."

Taichi stepped a little forward. "Well, I've got something to ask _you_ two. Why have you girls been following Yamato and I around like you're glued to us for the last few weeks? We can't seem to go anywhere without you on our tails. So what's up?"

Sora and Jun exchanged a brief glance, and Taichi was almost certain there was some kind of information going between them with that look. _What's their game? They're obviously in on it together. How'd they get to know each other?_ Even if he found out, he had a feeling that there'd be a lot more questions than he could ever really answer. They were girls; causing questions was what they did.

"We'll make a deal with you." Jun sounded a lot more serious than she usually did. "If things work out the way we hope they will, we won't be following you around like this anymore." Her eyes almost seemed to gleam with a hope that was somehow scary.

Yamato frowned. "What are you talking about, Jun?" This looked almost like he'd be free of her, and Taichi of Sora...it almost seemed to be too good to be true. Which meant it probably was.

"Simple." It was Sora who answered the question, her gaze shifting from one of them to the other equally. "The four of us will go out tomorrow night. If you guys have fun, then we'll be a set of two couples. If you _don't_ have fun, we'll stop following you everywhere and we won't ever try to do this again."

The two guys looked at each other a bit warily. This wasn't really what they'd been expecting, and there was something about the phrasing that was just not setting properly in either male mind. Jun just looked at them, her gaze every bit as calm as Sora's. That in itself was probably the most frightening thing of all. "Well? Make up your minds, we don't have all day, you know."

Taichi didn't like the way this was going. _I don't think we really have too many options right now, though. This could be our big chance to get them away from us, once and for all. Hope Yamato doesn't hate me for this._ "All right, it's a deal. One date, and whatever happens...happens."

Yamato made a shocked, strangled noise, and reached to grab Taichi. "What in the world do you think you're doing?" He shook his friend a little. "You expect _me_ to go on a date with _her_?" He looked as if he were about to shake Taichi's head off, until his friend pushed him back some, to where he hoped was out of earshot.

"Look, I know how you feel, but face it: if we don't do something they're going to be after us _forever_. If we can get this date over with and we don't like it, which I'm fairly sure neither of us will, we don't have to put up with them trying to date us. What do we have to lose?"

Yamato frowned for a moment, then shrugged. "All right, I guess you're right. But _I'm_ not paying for this, I can't stretch my money that far." It twinged a bit to have to say that, but what was true was true.

"Not a problem." Jun and Sora chorused, and Taichi jumped; he had been so sure they couldn't hear them! He was going to have to work on this getting people out of hearing things.

Sora waved one hand easily. "Don't worry, guys. "I've already got everything taken care of. We'll meet you at the Golden Starfish."

Both guys winced; that had to be _the_ most expensive restaurant in town. Taichi frowned suddenly. "Hey, don't you have to have a reservation for that place? How are you going to get one on such short notice?"

Sora chuckled. "It's not short notice, Taichi. I've had this set up for three months." She grinned. "My mother provided the flowers for that place when it redecorated a couple of years ago, and the owner has kind of been a family friend ever since. When she found out what I've got in mind, she was _very_ eager to help." Her grin widened, and Taichi felt his heart sinking. "You guys better be ready for an evening you're _never_ going to forget."

"Is it too late to back out?" Yamato murmured wearily. Jun pinned him with a look.

"Definitely."

It was time. Taichi and Yamato had agreed that they would get ready for this 'date' over at Taichi's place. It was a kind of mutual support to face the evening to come. Neither of them was looking forward to this in the slightest, but what had to be done, had to be done. They hadn't breathed a word to this to anyone else; the younger kids were still caught up in their regular fight against the Kaiser, and the older ones...well, Mimi was in America, Jyou was wrapped up in his studies, and Koushirou probably wouldn't have known what a 'date' was unless someone had spelled it out in triplicate and in at least five different languages, complete with a PowerPoint presentation.

"How do I look?" Yamato glanced into the mirror and ran a comb through his golden locks. Taichi looked at him, and it was all he could do not to fall down in worship of the beautiful godling before him. He gulped twice and forced himself to sound natural. At least he _hoped_ he sounded natural.

"You look good." Taichi glanced at his own preparations. _You look like you just stepped out of the pages of a storybook. A golden prince..._

He'd really _wanted_ to tell Yamato how he felt. He'd wanted to so badly he'd cussed himself out in every way possible way after their encounter with the girls. But with that date looming over their heads, he just hadn't felt like it was the right time or moment...or anything. _Plus...what if he **does** like going out with Jun? He's never done it before, he weaseled out of every other date she tried to get him to go on. I know **I'm** not going to enjoy this date, but if he does..._

It was enough to send him nightmares. _Well, this'll all be over one way or another in a few hours._ He told himself as he fixed up his hair and adjusted his jacket. _Maybe I'll get lucky._

"Well, it's time to get over there and meet our doom." Yamato didn't look at all thrilled, and Taichi nodded.

"The sooner we get there, the sooner it'll be over." Taichi declared. Yamato nodded and the two of them headed out, bidding farewell to Hikari as they did so. Taichi was almost certain he heard her starting to dial someone as they closed the door. _Who would she be calling?_ He shrugged mentally; probably Miyako so the two of them could gush about whatever it was best girlfriends gushed about.

He really didn't notice all that much about the small talk he and Yamato made on their way to the restaurant. He was too busy noticing the fact Yamato was beside him and was going to be for several hours to come. It was one of his dreams come true. The problem was it had started off too many of both kinds of dreams: the good ones and the horrible nightmares where Yamato rejected him and told him that he never wanted to see such a disgusting freak again.

_Breathe, Taichi._ The brunette told himself firmly as they came up to the restaurant. _I'm no fashion expert, but I **do** know that blue is not a color you look that great in._

"So where are they?" Yamato glanced around. "Kind of hard to have this settled if they aren't here."

Taichi felt a small little wiggle in his stomach and tried not to think about it. "You don't think this is some kind of trick or something they're trying to play on us?" He couldn't see _how_ it would be or why...what could they get by it? Jun and Sora wanted Yamato and him; so how in the world could they get them by _not_ showing up. That was the whole deal.

Yamato was about to answer when their names were called by two familiar voices. Both looked over to see Jun and Sora coming towards them, wearing identical gorgeous outfits, Jun's in a deep blue that complemented her red hair and brown eyes just perfectly, and Sora in a lighter shade of azure that did the same for her own coloring. Taichi had never seen either of them dressed up before, and it was a very disconcerting look. _I have to admit, I was kind of wondering if they were going to show up...looking...wild._ He knew it was very uncharitable of him, but the way the girls had been acting lately had been beyond suspicious, and he wasn't all that sure he could really trust whatever was going on in their teenage hormone drenched minds.

"Glad to see you made it." Jun looked at them both with an appraising look. "Looks like I owe Sora two hundred yen. I was sure you guys were going to make up some kind of excuse and bug out."

Both of them blushed and stuttered a little, until Sora saved them with a wave of her hand. "We're all here, so let's get this started. Come on."

There wasn't much of a line, so it didn't take long for them to get through it. The maitre'd took one look at who was with them, and they were immediately led to a nice, quiet back table that was out of the way of everyone. "Is there anything I can get for you, Takenouchi-san?" The waiter asked, bowing politely.

"Menus and drinks," Sora made her request as if she'd had done this sort of thing every day of her life. She quickly named what each of them wanted, getting Yamato and Taichi's beverages of choice selected at once. "And privacy. This is a _very_ important date."

The waiter bowed again. "Of course, Takenouci-san. It'll just be a few moments." He hustled off as the four of them took their seats; Yamato and Taichi on one side, Jun and Sora on the other.

"All right, so now what?" Yamato wondered as he fiddled a little with his napkin. "Do we just have dinner and talk?"

Jun shrugged. "What do _you_ usually do on a date, Yamato?" Her eyes twinkled at him. "If you've ever had one."

The blonde said nothing, only stared down at his water for a moment. Taichi felt it was his responsibility to say something. This was kind of his fault. _I wonder if they would have made this weird deal thing if I hadn't come over to Yamato's that day._ He looked over at them. "So, how's everything, girls?" He was at least going to make a proper effort so they couldn't get him on any technicalities.

Sora chuckled. "Just fine, Taichi." Her eyes were _definitely_ amused, something he'd seldom seen. Sora had a sense of humor, but she had never really been someone to be laughing constantly. Seriousness and maturity were her hallmarks. "So what's up with _you_ two?"

The small talk continued until the drinks arrived, only mildly interrupted by their choice of food items. Taichi could feel there was something like a strain in the air. He wasn't certain just how to describe it; but it was as if everyone was waiting for something to happen that just wasn't.

"So, it wasn't all that hard to get him to do my homework for a week," Jun finished up a little story that really _was_ rather amusing, despite the damage it was doing to her brother's reputation. "He learned not to make bets with me after that." She looked rather smug, and Taichi wasn't all that certain who he should feel sorry for.

By now the food had come, and they had demolished it rather quickly. Sora glanced at her watch, then over at Jun. "I think we need to pay a visit to the ladies' room, don't you, Jun?" Some kind of message appeared to pass between the two of them, with only their eyes. "You know, freshen up and things."

"You're right." Jun got up swiftly. "You two keep each other company." A moment later, the two guys were the only ones at the table. Taichi glanced over at his friend, suddenly struck by how much this was like a double date: but _not_ of himself and Sora, with Yamato and Jun.

_It's almost like...Jun and Sora...and...Yamato and me._ The thought sent tiny chills down his spine, and he quickly looked back over at the remains of his food. "So, what do you think so far?" That was a nice safe neutral question. And perfectly understandable and natural at this point. Plus he _seriously_ wanted to know the answer. If Yamato was having a better time than he looked to be on the outside...

"Well, I'd like this a lot better if they weren't hovering around as if they were expecting one or both of us to suddenly jump them and start kissing like an idiot." Yamato confessed. He looked over at Taichi and smiled a bit. "This is kind of weird, though. I'm not sure, but I think I caught Jun holding Sora's hand under the table once. They moved apart almost as soon as I saw it though, so..."

Taichi blinked; if Yamato had noticed it as well...maybe it _wasn't_ such a weird idea. "I did kind of notice that they seem to be...kind of more with each other than trying to get with us." He shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it, but it's just..." Words failed him; they'd never been his strong point in the first place anyway.

"I know." Yamato poked at a piece of vegetable. "So, assuming they _are_ together...why all of this? Why try to get _us_ to go out with them if they're..."

His friend looked over at him as he trailed off. "Yamato? If they're...what?" Oh, great, now Yamato was starting to act weird. Was there a wacky convention in town and he'd just missed the news about it?

"Taichi." Yamato fiddled with his chopstick again. "I've been meaning to ask you this for a while. What would you think about..._us_ going out on a date...together? A _real_ date? Not this, not a couple of guy friends scoping out girls...but..." He looked over at Taichi, blue eyes meeting brown with a heat that Taichi had never seen, but returned with his own depths of intensity.

"But...us...together." Taichi murmured. Yamato nodded slowly, the hope flaring in his sapphire orbs.

"Well?" He asked. "What _would_ you think about it?"

The Child of Courage considered it for all of a single moment. "I'd think...that all the good dreams I've been having would have _finally_ come true. And if you were asking me out, then I'm saying...yes. I'll go out with you."

Yamato looked at him with a blinding glow to his eyes, something that put every other look Taichi had ever seen from him to shame. The brunette's heart melted away completely, turning to mush and trickling straight over to take up it's new residence as one of Yamato's possessions.

"You...will?" The blonde murmured the words as if he couldn't believe that they'd actually touched his ear. "You _will_??" He looked a bit startled suddenly. "But...if you're gay...if you want to go out with _me_, why'd you agree to _**this**_?" He waved a hand at the setup before them.

Taichi shook his head. "Just like I told you. It was to get them off our backs. What, did you think I was just shy about telling Sora how I felt or something? She's a nice girl, and she's one of my best friends, but she is _not_ who I want to go out with, even if I _was_ straight."

Yamato made a face like a landed fish, and Taichi couldn't help but laugh. He also couldn't help what he did next. Moving only on instinct, he leaned over and brushed his lips against Yamato's.

The move shocked the both, and Taichi would have moved back, if Yamato hadn't quickly glomped onto him and turned the kiss from something soft and almost hesitant into something deep, rich, and complete with tongue action.

When they finally moved back, both of them stared at each other with that unbelievable 'first kiss' look in both sets of eyes. Taichi was fairly sure whatever was left of his brain had just been blown away completely, and he was doubly sure that he really didn't care right now. All that mattered was Yamato and that set of lips that had done this to him.

"Whoa..." He managed to get some words out. He wasn't that certain how intelligent they were, but they seemed to be doing all right. "Was that your first kiss? With _anyone_?" Cause he knew it was his. And it had just spoiled him for _everyone_. No one else could ever kiss like that. It was beyond stupendous. They were going to have to invent some new words just to get to the outer edges of how it had made him feel.

Yamato nodded slowly, and Taichi felt his jaw drop even further. "Double whoa. You could've _definitely_ fooled me. That...was..."

"Yeah..." The blonde nodded, looking every bit as dazed and confused as Taichi felt at the moment. He blinked, trying to get his brains back together or something, and looked around. "Hey, why aren't the girls back yet? Not that I'm really complaining, but shouldn't they be here so we can tell them we..." Well, just what they had done, he wasn't all that sure, but he did know that he didn't want to date any of them.

"Excuse me." The waiter slipped in and held out a small folded note. "Your friends asked me to give this to you." Without waiting for an answer he vanished in that way that waiters have, leaving the note on the table.

"It's probably the bill." Taichi groused a bit, then picked it up. Part of him hoped there hadn't been some kind of emergency; it wasn't like Sora just to leave friends alone like this. Then again, he was wondering just how much he really _knew_ Sora anymore. He read the note aloud, and as the sense of it penetrated his ears, his jaw promptly dropped to the ground and he stared in disbelief.

_Taichi and Yamato,_

_Sorry for doing this, but Jun and I figured it was probably the best way to let you know that not only are you two in love with each other, but **we** are in love with each other as well. This was just an elaborate setup for you two to finally admit how you feel. You don't have to worry, we aren't going to try and date you...though a **real** double date, with the two of you as a couple and the two of us as a couple, is certainly workable if you're willing, once you've gotten a bit more comfortable with each other as a romantic pair. So don't worry about dinner; we already took care of the bill, this night was on me, after all. We're going to go do some things you probably won't want to know about, so have fun, and we'll see you around. Signed, Takenouchi Sora and Motomiya Jun. Matchmakers at large._

The two of them stared at each other. "Whoa..." Taichi broke the silence. "I know we talked about it, but I didn't think they were really...I mean..."

"Girls do _strange_ things when guys aren't looking." Yamato declared. "_Very_ strange things." He grinned. "But this is one time I'm not going to complain about it."

Taichi grinned back at him, feeling a deep joy and love welling up inside of him. "We're going to have to do something nice for them, you know. I've been trying to get it through to you how I felt for a while now. Something would always come up, though. Either it wasn't the right time or someone interrupted or..." He shrugged. "That's over with now."

Yamato reached out to carefully take Taichi's hand, squeezing it with the wariness of those who had just barely begun to admit how they felt about one another. "Yeah. So...we've got the night to ourselves. What do you want to do?"

Taichi looked around, feeling his horizons suddenly wide open and wonderful. They could go anywhere, they could do anything, and if people stared at them, it didn't matter, because he had Yamato, and Yamato had him. "I don't know..." He laughed. "I want to do _everything_! Everything with you."

His blonde companion grinned, feeling the same way. "Well, we have to start somewhere if we're going to do everything." He leaned back for a moment, absently playing with Taichi's fingertips. Taichi didn't object, though he did look at him oddly for a moment, before leaning back to enjoy the sensation.

_I wonder if this is how his guitar feels when he's playing it. Lucky instrument. Well, move over, cause he's got something new to put his fingers all over now!_ Taichi felt a little weird being smug to an instrument, even in his own mind, but it was his mind, and he could be weird and smug and annoying if he wanted to be.

"I know!" He suddenly knew just where he wanted to start this off at. "There's an all night movie festival just a few blocks from here. Let's go there!"

Yamato considered it for a moment, then nodded, rising gracefully to his feet. "That sounds great. What do we do after that?"

Taichi looked at him with sparkling brown eyes. "We'll figure _that_ out when the time comes. Maybe we'll think of something while we're there. Let's go!" He tugged Yamato out of the restaurant and down to the theater, glad that he'd thought to bring some money with him, and looked forward to spending several hours in a nice warm dark place with the guy of his dreams.

The whole night was one whirlwind of events after another. The movies, a couple of hours at a teenage nightclub, a nice long walk underneath the stars in one of the many parks of Tokyo...it was a perfect evening. Nothing seemed to be able to go wrong, and both of them felt as if they were walking on air.

"Well, I guess this is good night." Yamato gazed down into Taichi's eyes, feeling the delicious kind of tired you feel when you've had the best day of your life, and know that it's only the beginning of a thousand more.

Taichi nodded. "I had a _wonderful_ time." He grred at himself inwardly at how cliché that was. Maybe he needed to learn some new lines. "So what happens now?"

The blonde smiled at him, his fingers firmly clasped around Taichi's. "I think this is where you get a good night kiss."

"So what's holding you back?" Taichi murmured, gazing up into this rich beautiful liquid pools of sapphire light before him. He could easily drown in those, and die a happy man. _What a way to go..._

Yamato's smile was tender and real and warm. Taichi knew not many people saw this smile, and he was fairly certain _he_ never had before, so it was special, and rare, and maybe one of a kind, and his heart sang to see it. "Because I don't want it to be good night. I don't really want this night to end."

"Neither do I." Taichi couldn't think of any reasonable way for it to go on, though. But separating meant they would get to see each other, and he looked forward to that. "But I think it kind of has to."

"Then..." Yamato leaned forward and brushed his lips across Taichi's with infinite gentleness. This time, it was Taichi who deepened the kiss, striving for, reaching, and surpassing that wonderfulness and wonder that their first kiss had inspired in him. When this one finally ended, it was amazing that either could actually remain on their feet.

Taichi leaned back slowly. "We have _got_ to do that more often." He murmured. "Much, much, more often."

Yamato nodded dreamily. "That was...beyond words. Words can't describe it. _Music_ can't describe it." For someone who defined his life by the melody, that was something unheard of.

The brunette reached behind him and slowly cracked the door open. "Good-bye, Yamato." He murmured, one hand caressing the strong cheek before him. "I'll call you tomorrow."

"I can hardly wait." Yamato stood there as Taichi slipped inside, each of them taking every chance they possibly could in order to see one tiny bit of each other.

As the door shut, Taichi sighed to himself happily. _That was one awesome date. I really **should** do something for Jun and Sora._ He was about to head to his room when a familiar voice spoke up.

"So, did you and Yamato have a fun time together tonight?" Hikari grinned from where she had been waiting up for him. Taichi glared at her for a moment, then blinked.

"How'd you know I was out with Yamato?"

She rolled her eyes and waved the phone regally at him. "Who do you think told Sora where you were going that day she and Jun made that 'date' with you? I've been spying on you for months for them!" Her eyes twinkled. "She promised to get me a date with Mimi if I helped out!"

Taichi groaned and shook his head. "I just don't _get_ girls!"

**The End**


End file.
